Old Tianjin Is Destroyed.

I want to introduce you to the invisible past. I was privileged enough to come to Tianjin in 2003 when hutongs (alleyway communities which cover large areas) were abundant. Now, just seven years later, they’re almost all gone. Tianjin’s rapid development in seven years has changed the city from a city of hutongs to a city of high rises.

The photos below were taken one year apart with the first batch taken in 2007 and the second batch taken in 2008. All the photos are from the same neighborhood.

Enjoy.

These photos were taken in 2007.

A breakfast restaurant where people buy deep fried bread rolls and heated soya milk.

A woman in the afternoon out on the street wearing her pajamas. It’s quite common in Tianjin for people in these older communities to spend the day in their pajamas while out shopping and visiting neighbors.

This is an oven where families used to cook their meals before stoves and microwaves came on the scene. To this day, ovens are almost unheard of in most Chinese homes. Everything is cooked on the stove top.

A man stepping out into a desserted alley.

A woman hangs clothes outside her home in the alley.

Two children in the distance walk in the distance. As you can see, maintenance of the roads is not commonplace.

This is just inside the main entrance of an old apartment building. It’s very rare to find wooden staircases like this one. You can see there isn’t really any painting or tiling of the floor, walls and stairs.

A tiny little shop for locals to grab a drink, snack or some cooking ingredients from. Notice the small pile of coal next to the drinks.

A wooden door with windows hints of a simpler and safer era. Now nearly every door is solid iron for security.

Brightly colored clothes add color to a dull alley.

A wooden gate would lead to even narrower alleyways and several small houses inside.

Carts with coal bricks ready to be delivered to small local restaurants.

An exhausted coal deliverer takes a well-deserved nap. He pulls his cart all day by hand.

A man rides his bike through his neighborhood while wearing a woolen hat that is no longer in fashion in China.

Meat hangs in an unsanitary manner on hooks on the pavement outside a small shop.

Freshly made sausages gather dust while waiting to be bought.

An old lady walks carries food from the local market.

An old lady carries vegetables in her bag while observing her neighborhood. In less than a year, from the time of this photo was taken, her neighborhood would be demolished and she’d have to move. She like most older people living in the area would be forced to move from what has been their home since they were born.

Locals buying fruit at a little fruit market.

These photos were taken in 2008.

A house has been gutted and waits to be demolished. You can see a traditional Chinese paper hanging on the window that hangs on one hinge.

The floors and roofs have gone but the walls remain. A skeleton of a building that was once home to several families.

Alleyways are now hemorrhaging bricks. Homes are being torn down daily.

These homes are now empty but still standing. Without their windows they’re like lifeless skulls with their eyes having rotted out.

One of the last days this postman will be delivering mail on this route. Only a hand full of families are left.

Down with the old, up with the new. Behind the ruins, new high rise apartment buildings are born.

One side of the alley is flattened while another awaits its impending doom.

Workers hang their wet clothes in the skeleton of a building.

Almost all gone now. The only people to be found here are the workers carrying out the demolition.

Final Thoughts.

I have to say that I have feelings of sadness when I see a traditional way of life that has been here for generations disappear. From these vibrant communities, faceless high rise apartments and shopping malls are appearing.

I’m grateful that I was able to see these hutong communities in Tianjin, which are almost all gone with the final 5% remaining to be destroyed in the next two years.

Tianjin, unlike Beijing, which has protected some of their hutong communities, seems to be ashamed of its past and wants to only be known as a modern metropolis. Not one hutong area has been offered protection status.

So, as a lifestyle designer, travel has given me the opportunity to experience what you’ll never be able to experience here in Tianjin. In Tianjin, China progress waits for no one.

While you can’t see these hutong communities, you still have time to see other parts of the world before they disappear, too..If you have the chance, go traveling and see the world that is crumbling into eternal history before it’s too late.

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1. Remind Yourself How Good Lifestyle Design Is.
2. Saturday Spew And Shout Out: October 10th 2009.
3. How China Changed A Young American.
4. Saturday Spew And Shout Out: October 3rd 2009.